They’re up! More commentary in a bit, although we are pleased to see the judges decided to REDUCE the number of categories this year!

The Will Comic Industry Awards 2009 slate of nominees is filled with many newcomers to the ballot, from Canadian cousins Mariko and Jillian Tamaki (writer and artist of the teen angst graphic novel Skim, published by Groundwood Books) to French biographer Emmanuel Guibert (Alan’s War, published by First Second) to graphic novelist Nate Powell (Swallow Me Whole, published by Top Shelf).

The creators with the most nominations are Guibert, Barry (the 3 for What It Is plus 1 as editor of Anthology nominee Best American Comics: 2008, published by Houghton Mifflin), and Chris Ware (Short Story for “Actual Size” in Kramers Ergo, and Writer/Artist, Coloring, and Lettering for Acme Novelty Library #19). Creators with 3 nominations include Amy Reeder Hadley, J. Michael Straczynski, Mariko and Jill Tamaki, Nate Powell, and Mike Mignola (Limited Series for Hellboy: The Crooked Man, plus Graphic Album–Reprint and Design for Hellboy Library Editions, published by Dark Horse).

The publisher emerging with the most nominations this year is Dark Horse, with 13 individual nods and 5 shared. In addition to Umbrella Academy and Hellboy, popular DH titles Usagi Yojimbo (Continuing Series) and Groo (Limited Series) made the ballot, while the company’s Herbie Archives is nominated for both Humor Publication and Archival Project. Past front-runner DC came in second for publisher nominations, with 10 plus 2 shared. Besides Fables and Madame Xanadu, other DC titles on the ballot include Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely’s All Star Superman (Continuing Series), G. Willow Wilson and M. K. Perker’s Air (New Series), and Art Baltazar and Franco’s Tiny Titans (Publication for Kids). Marvel is right behind DC with 9 nominations plus 2 shared. Joining Thor on the ballot are Jonathan Lethem and Farel Dalrymple’s Omega the Unknown (Limited Series), Straczynski and Chris Weston’s The Twelve (Limited Series), Matt Fraction and Salvador Larocca’s Invincible Iron Man (New Series), and Frank Miller and Bill Sienkiewicz’s Elektra: Assassin (Archival Project). Other comics publishers with 3 or more nominations include IDW (5), Viz (5, including 3 of the 5 nominees in the U.S. Edition of International Material–Japan category), and Image (3, plus 2 shared).

Literary and graphic novel publishing houses made a strong showing: Drawn & Quarterly has 10 nominations, First Second has 9, and Fantagraphics has 7. Other such publishers with 3 or more nominations include AdHouse (5), Pantheon (4) Houghton Mifflin (3), Scholastic Graphix (3), and Top Shelf (5). In all 38 publishers are represented on the ballot.

In the Digital Comics category, nominees range from Dash Shaw’s long work-in-progress Bodyworld and Carla Speed McNeil’s ongoing Finder series (published on the shadowline.com website) to three complete short stories: Eliza Frye’s “The Lady’s Murder,” Elan Trinidad’s “Speak No Evil: Melancholy of a Space Mexican,” and Joe Infurnari and Alexis Sottile’s “Vs.”

Named for acclaimed comics creator the Will Eisner, the awards are in their 21st year of highlighting the best publications and creators in comics and graphic novels, chosen by a blue-ribbon panel of judges. The 2009 judging panel consists of Amanda Emmert (owner of Muse Comics & Games in Missoula, MT), Mike Pawuk (teen services public librarian for the Cuyahoga, Ohio County Public Library), John Shableski (Diamond Book Distributors sales manager), Ben Towle (graphic novelist and comics arts educator), and Andrew Wheeler (comics and manga reviewer at ComixMix.com).

This year’s judges made a few changes to the ballot, resulting in a reduction in the number of categories from 29 to 26. They eliminated the Single Issue category, combined the Writer/Artist and Wrtier/Artist–Humor categories, and dropped the Special Recognition category. They also changed Best Publication for Teens to Best Publication for Teens/Tweens. Voting in one Eisner Awards category, Hall of Fame, is already completed. The judges chose the nominees earlier this year, and voting was conducted solely online, with voting ending on March 26.

Ballots with this year’s nominees will be going out in mid-April to comics creators, editors, publishers, and retailers. A downloadable pdf of the ballot will also be available online, and a special website has been set up for online voting. The results in all categories will be announced in a gala awards ceremony on the evening of Friday, July 24 at Comic-Con International.

The Eisner Awards are presented under the auspices of Comic-Con International, San Diego, a nonprofit educational organization dedicated to creating awareness of and appreciation for comics and related popular art forms. primarily through the presentation of conventions and events that celebrate the historic and ongoing contributions of comics to art and culture. Jackie Estrada has been administrator of the Awards since 1990. She can be reached at jackie@comic-con.com.

The judges combined short story and single issue into a single category because they narrowed down the single issue possibilities to a very short list; when the voting was done, none of the single issues made the final list, meaning none got high enough scores, so the category was dropped this year.

I am so glad to see Wilson get this nomination. She’s easily one of the best new talents in comics and her subject matter is such a surreal and engaging break from the norm of even what Vertigo is putting out. And her being a young woman makes this even more incredible.

Thanks for the kind words, Stan! I’ve just posted a brief note about this year’s Eisners on my blog, but in short, I’m fine with it, I’ve had a great run and many nominations and wins, and will be there to applaud for this year’s winner.

What a collection of books to sort through! Judging was like someone gives you a bowl of your favorite ice cream and then tells you, keep shoveling that down because there are 400 gallons more you need to eat before midnight.

The books were all pretty amazing.

I am chalking this Eisner experience up there as one very cool moment for me. Amy, Ben, Andy and Mike are all great people and I learned a lot from their perspectives. Jackie kept us hydrated and on schedule(thank you!). It was quite an honor to serve.
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I totally want to echo what Mario posted above about All Star Supes and The Twelve (I enjoy both of them) and continuing series needs to be redefined.

Robert, have you read Blue Pills, Solanin, Monster, Alan’s War, What It Is, Unknown Soldier, or Acme Novelty Library #19? Any awards with these excellent works can’t be called lackluster. What comic works do you think should be represented here?

Here is what I don’t get–How does Invincible Iron Man (a book I LOVE by the way) get nominated for Best New Series and yet neither Fraction (the writer) nor Larocca (the artist) get nods in their individual categories? If neither of them are of the five best in their field, how is it that the book is one of the five best? It’s not on the strength of the lettering or coloring as neither of those got nods either.

Cekrypton:
Look at the list of nominees for writer and for penciller/inker: Nearly all of them are nominated for titles that are also nominated. There are numerous categories for works, but fewer for the creators of those works. For instance, “Best Writer” can be for writer of a continuing series, a limited series, a title for kids or teens, a graphic album-new, a humor publication, or a reality-based work.

I think it would be great if Todd Klein brought all of the Eisners he’s won with him to the ceremony and just placed them in front of him on his table, of course he’d need a wheelbarrel to haul them around.